If this dreadful thing is not taken away I shall go mad
Date1908
Artist
Howard Pyle
(American illustrator, 1853–1911)
Illustration Citation"The Mysterious Chest," by Howard Pyle, in Harper's Monthly Magazine, December 1908.
MediumOil on canvas
Dimensions11 1/2 × 11 3/4 in. (29.2 × 29.8 cm)
frame: 12 1/4 × 12 5/8 in. (31.1 × 32.1 cm)
frame: 12 1/4 × 12 5/8 in. (31.1 × 32.1 cm)
Credit LineMuseum Purchase, 1920
Object number1920-6
On View
Not on viewClassificationsPAINTING
Label TextHoward Pyle' story revolves around a locked cedar chest delivered on a British ship to New York City in 1793. When it is discovered to contain a severed head, each person who encounters the chest leaves it at someone else's door. Here, an elderly recipient convinces a young lawyer to advise him on disposing of the head; the lawyer soon realizes that it is a wax replica. The chest and its head finally reach their rightful destination, a waxwork exhibition.
